Miami Metromover - The First Automated Downtown Peoplemover in the U.S.

The Miami Metromover began as a 1.9 mile (3 km) double-loop, elevated,
fully-automated system designed to serve as a downtown distributor/collector for Miami's
21 mile (33.8 km) Metrorail system and as a circulator for trips between hotels, retail
facilities, convention facilities and parking areas within the downtown. The concepts used
to design this system are well-described in two published papers (Fialkoff, Brooks and
Panama, 1989; Brooks, 1989). It is connected to the Metrorail system at a multi-level
station located at the western edge of Miami's downtown. Another Metrorail connection has
been provided at the Brickell Station. In FY 1990, the average daily patronage was about
12,000.

Metromover vehicles completed the initial 1.9 mile loop every 11 minutes and
departed a station every 90 seconds during peak hours. There are nine stations on the
initial loop and a recently completed expansion has added another 2.5 miles (4.02 km) of
double-track guideway, 12 more stations and 15 more vehicles. The cost of this expansion
was estimated to be $248 million or $99.2 million per mile. For comparison, the initial
system cost $159 million or $84.8 million per mile. Inflation and other factors acted to
increase the cost of the extensions.

The largest volume of passengers carried by Metromover is reported to be 38,000
when it moved people to/from a New Year's Eve King Orange Jamboree parade. The busiest
station is at Government Center where most of the transfers to and from the Metrorail
system occur.

The technology has been provided by AEG-Westinghouse and features vehicles
designed to carry 82 standing and 14 seated passengers. The average speed of travel is
about 12 mph (19.3 kph) as compared to 30 mph (48.3 kph) for Metrorail and 13 mph (20.9
kph) for Metrobus. Cars are equipped with rubber tires that provide a smooth, quiet ride
and each is fully air-conditioned. The fare is 25 cents and a wide variety of discounts
are available. Riding Metromover is free when you transfer from Metrorail. The revenue
from Metromover has been quite small in relation to its costs. The farebox recovery ratio
for 1989 was estimated to be around 5 percent. This very low value is due, in part, to the
large number of riders who transfer from Metrorail and pay no additional fare. In 1989,
the equipment and guideway maintenance, transit authority police, stockroom clerks and
other labor costs were estimated to be about 47 percent of total annual costs.

Two of the current stations are integrated with office buildings. The Government
Center station is part of the Metro Dade Center development and the Knight Center Station
is in the fourth floor of a parking structure that is part of Centrust Tower, located
adjacent to the Knight Convention Center (see photo above). The two extension legs to the
north and south of the original network became operational in 1994. These extensions are
projected to stimulate ridership significantly and it has been forecast to reach 43,000 by
2000.

As is well-know in transit circles, the Miami Metrorail system has not attained
the ridership that was forecast for it when the initial investment decision was made. This
lack of expected patronage has also contributed to the lower than expected ridership
levels on Metromover. However, many new buildings have been built in downtown Miami and it
is generally agree that Metromover has had a positive (though not decisive) influence on
these development decisions. Although no evidence of strong public opposition to the
visual intrusion of the elevated guideway in downtown Miami has been found, it has been
criticized by people in other cities and may be a deterrent (in addition to its very high
cost) to the deployment of similar circulator systems in other downtown areas in the
future.